Newspaper Tradition Lives On
September 24, 2016 at 5:01 a.m.
By Gary [email protected]
An average pound of bacon was $3.14. A pound of fresh, whole chicken was $1.09. Grade A large eggs were going for $1.20.
In 2003, the new United States Department of Homeland Security officially began operation and the U.S. was making plans for an invasion of Iraq later that year.
Lance Armstrong won his fifth Tour De France.
Americans renamed "French Fries" to "Freedom Fries" in protest of France's stand on Iraq.
Voters recalled Governor Gray Davis from office and elected Arnold Schwarzenegger to succeed him.
Also in 2003, the Recording Industry Association of America filed copyright lawsuits against internet users for trading songs online and Apple launched iTunes.
A white tiger attacked Roy Horn (Siegfried & Roy), and Michael Jackson was booked on multiple counts of child molestation.
In 2003, the hot cellphone was the just-released clamshell by Samsung, the S300. The Motorola Razr would be released the following year.
The vast majority of cellphones didn’t come equipped with a camera.
Oh, and one more notable event occurred in 2003. It was the last time the Times-Union raised its single-copy and subscriber rates.
So now you know where I’m going with this, don’t you?
For the past 13 years, while many newspapers increased rates multiple times, we’ve held the line on how much we charge for the Times-Union.
I don’t know how many other businesses can say that about their products, but my guess is it would be very few.
A lot has changed in this business since 2003, including the way we produce a newspaper. We’ve upgraded our computers a couple of times since then. We’ve purchased new digital cameras. We’ve installed new computer-to-plate technology and plate processers.
Just in the last two months, we’ve redesigned our print product, upgraded our website and added a mobile app.
Certainly, the newspaper publishing industry has undergone significant challenges during this time. And while we have taken steps to make our operation as efficient as possible in all areas, we have never scrimped on content.
Our current publishers – Chandler Williams and Erin Williams – remain committed to providing our readers with a robust level of content as did the family of owners before them.
The Times-Union has never been stingy with newsprint and ink.
Frankly, I believe the level of content in our newspaper compares quite favorably to like-sized newspapers anywhere.
Day-to-day, we offer a wide range of features and editorial content. There are few daily newspapers our size anywhere that offer an opinion and op-ed page almost daily, a full page of comics and a diversions page with puzzles, bridge, advice columns and a horoscope.
Our Leisure section on Thursday offers kids features like Mini-Page, Tell Me a Story and Earthweek.
We’ve cultivated a series of local columnists from libraries throughout the area to keep readers updated on events offered in those venues.
Our weekend edition features investment advice from local firms like Alderfer & Bergen, Edward Jones and Teachers Credit Union.
The Motley Fool provides investment advice on a national scale.
For the sports minded, the weekend edition provides a full page of NASCAR coverage and a full page of golf coverage each week.
The weekend Home & Auto section offers lots of great advice on topics like gardening, real estate and home maintenance.
Color comics also are included in the weekend edition, plus our 32-page Spotlight TV guide.
All of this is in addition to our full complement of Associated Press and Tribune News Service wire packages, which provide stories and photos from all over the world.
Recently, we’ve added two veteran news people to our staff – Dan Spalding and Deb Sprong – as well as a newly minted reporter from Utah, Michael Anderson.
We’ve added news correspondents to increase our coverage of Syracuse, Milford, Bourbon, Mentone, Silver Lake, Claypool and North Manchester.
The hope is that these staffers, along with existing long-time staffers, in our news, sports and advertising departments, will provide a heightened quality of local content to compliment our menu of syndicated material.
We strive to provide local content that you can trust. We only report from official, reliable and trusted sources. So much of the time, there is a rush to be first to publish something online, only to find out later that the report was inaccurate.
We toil to avoid this.
We do not publish information regarding fatalities until law enforcement assures us family members have been notified.
We shield the names of crime victims.
Do we make mistakes? Of course we do. But when we do, we correct our mistakes and apologize for any inconvenience they may have caused.
This type of commitment to our readers has been going on since 1854 – before the Civil War. We are in our 162nd year of continuous service to Kosciusko County and remain this county’s most trusted and reliable source of local news.
Of course, content like this is valuable, but the most quantifiable value in your daily newspaper comes from our advertisers.
Advertisers offer readers a wide variety of products and services at great savings each day.
Readers can save literally thousands of dollars each year by – even casually – perusing the coupons and sales offered by our advertisers.
That’s value.
Print is far from dead and remains the best way to get your message out to the community, whether it’s a fundraiser for a worthy cause or a buy-one-get-one coupon.
On Nov. 1, the price of a subscription will be $14 per month or $13 per month for senior citizens and those who choose autopay or pay for a year.
As always, print subscribers will have access to all our online products at no extra charge.
Single copy sales will rise to $1 daily and $1.50 for the weekend edition beginning Oct. 1.
Even after this price increase, our subscription rates remain below those of most area daily newspapers.
The publishers and staff would like to take this opportunity to thank our readers and advertisers for their support over the years.
Without them, there would be no Times-Union.
An average pound of bacon was $3.14. A pound of fresh, whole chicken was $1.09. Grade A large eggs were going for $1.20.
In 2003, the new United States Department of Homeland Security officially began operation and the U.S. was making plans for an invasion of Iraq later that year.
Lance Armstrong won his fifth Tour De France.
Americans renamed "French Fries" to "Freedom Fries" in protest of France's stand on Iraq.
Voters recalled Governor Gray Davis from office and elected Arnold Schwarzenegger to succeed him.
Also in 2003, the Recording Industry Association of America filed copyright lawsuits against internet users for trading songs online and Apple launched iTunes.
A white tiger attacked Roy Horn (Siegfried & Roy), and Michael Jackson was booked on multiple counts of child molestation.
In 2003, the hot cellphone was the just-released clamshell by Samsung, the S300. The Motorola Razr would be released the following year.
The vast majority of cellphones didn’t come equipped with a camera.
Oh, and one more notable event occurred in 2003. It was the last time the Times-Union raised its single-copy and subscriber rates.
So now you know where I’m going with this, don’t you?
For the past 13 years, while many newspapers increased rates multiple times, we’ve held the line on how much we charge for the Times-Union.
I don’t know how many other businesses can say that about their products, but my guess is it would be very few.
A lot has changed in this business since 2003, including the way we produce a newspaper. We’ve upgraded our computers a couple of times since then. We’ve purchased new digital cameras. We’ve installed new computer-to-plate technology and plate processers.
Just in the last two months, we’ve redesigned our print product, upgraded our website and added a mobile app.
Certainly, the newspaper publishing industry has undergone significant challenges during this time. And while we have taken steps to make our operation as efficient as possible in all areas, we have never scrimped on content.
Our current publishers – Chandler Williams and Erin Williams – remain committed to providing our readers with a robust level of content as did the family of owners before them.
The Times-Union has never been stingy with newsprint and ink.
Frankly, I believe the level of content in our newspaper compares quite favorably to like-sized newspapers anywhere.
Day-to-day, we offer a wide range of features and editorial content. There are few daily newspapers our size anywhere that offer an opinion and op-ed page almost daily, a full page of comics and a diversions page with puzzles, bridge, advice columns and a horoscope.
Our Leisure section on Thursday offers kids features like Mini-Page, Tell Me a Story and Earthweek.
We’ve cultivated a series of local columnists from libraries throughout the area to keep readers updated on events offered in those venues.
Our weekend edition features investment advice from local firms like Alderfer & Bergen, Edward Jones and Teachers Credit Union.
The Motley Fool provides investment advice on a national scale.
For the sports minded, the weekend edition provides a full page of NASCAR coverage and a full page of golf coverage each week.
The weekend Home & Auto section offers lots of great advice on topics like gardening, real estate and home maintenance.
Color comics also are included in the weekend edition, plus our 32-page Spotlight TV guide.
All of this is in addition to our full complement of Associated Press and Tribune News Service wire packages, which provide stories and photos from all over the world.
Recently, we’ve added two veteran news people to our staff – Dan Spalding and Deb Sprong – as well as a newly minted reporter from Utah, Michael Anderson.
We’ve added news correspondents to increase our coverage of Syracuse, Milford, Bourbon, Mentone, Silver Lake, Claypool and North Manchester.
The hope is that these staffers, along with existing long-time staffers, in our news, sports and advertising departments, will provide a heightened quality of local content to compliment our menu of syndicated material.
We strive to provide local content that you can trust. We only report from official, reliable and trusted sources. So much of the time, there is a rush to be first to publish something online, only to find out later that the report was inaccurate.
We toil to avoid this.
We do not publish information regarding fatalities until law enforcement assures us family members have been notified.
We shield the names of crime victims.
Do we make mistakes? Of course we do. But when we do, we correct our mistakes and apologize for any inconvenience they may have caused.
This type of commitment to our readers has been going on since 1854 – before the Civil War. We are in our 162nd year of continuous service to Kosciusko County and remain this county’s most trusted and reliable source of local news.
Of course, content like this is valuable, but the most quantifiable value in your daily newspaper comes from our advertisers.
Advertisers offer readers a wide variety of products and services at great savings each day.
Readers can save literally thousands of dollars each year by – even casually – perusing the coupons and sales offered by our advertisers.
That’s value.
Print is far from dead and remains the best way to get your message out to the community, whether it’s a fundraiser for a worthy cause or a buy-one-get-one coupon.
On Nov. 1, the price of a subscription will be $14 per month or $13 per month for senior citizens and those who choose autopay or pay for a year.
As always, print subscribers will have access to all our online products at no extra charge.
Single copy sales will rise to $1 daily and $1.50 for the weekend edition beginning Oct. 1.
Even after this price increase, our subscription rates remain below those of most area daily newspapers.
The publishers and staff would like to take this opportunity to thank our readers and advertisers for their support over the years.
Without them, there would be no Times-Union.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092